Servings: 10
Calories: 595kcal
Equipment
- Instant Pot electric pressure cooker
- Reusable straining bag (for the brine) - or a mesh strainer with handle
- Deep-dish roasting pan with lid
Ingredients
Ingredients for Black folks’ Southern turkey brine
- 8 cups water
- 5 apples quartered – and another apple or two to garnish (You can use a mix of tart and sweet if you like (i.e., Granny Smith, Gala, Red Delicious)
- 1 orange with the peel on, quartered (and another orange or two to garnish)
- 2 tablespoons ginger minced
- 1 ½ tablespoons whole cloves
- 1 pomegranate quartered
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 3 cinnamon sticks
Ingredients for the Southern Thanksgiving rub
- 10 pound turkey This recipe works for a 10-15 pound turkey
- 2 tablespoons seasoning Famous Dave’s Country Roast Chicken Seasoning, or similar
- 2 tablespoons seasoning Weber Roasted Garlic & Herb Seasoning, or similar
- ½ cup parsley fresh & finely chopped to garnish
- 4 sprigs herbs fresh herbs like rosemary, parsley & thyme to garnish
Instructions
- Pro tip: An Instant Pot and reusable strainer bag are super helpful for this recipe!
- Remove the Instant Pot lid and turn on the sauté setting for 30 minutes. (30 minutes is the most you can sauté, so you'll add more time when this time is up.)
- Add the water, apples, and brown sugar to the stainless-steel inner pot with the lid off.
- Place the cloves, ginger, cinnamon sticks, pomegranate, and orange into the strainer bag, tighten the bag's strings, and place the strainer in the inner pot.
- Allow the cider to simmer.
- When the 30 minutes is up, turn on the sauté setting for an additional 10 minutes.
- When cook time is finished, remove the straining bag and scoop the apples out with a slotted spoon.
- Mix the Famous Dave's seasoning and the roasted garlic & herb spice in a small bowl to create a Southern spice rub for the turkey.
- Place the turkey in a deep-dish roasting pan.
- Spoon onto the turkey a bit of the apple cider brine, so it's not dry, then rub on and coat the whole chicken with the Southern spice rub mixture.
- Lift the turkey to rub the seasoning on the bottom of the bird.
- Transfer the apple cider by pouring it into the deep-dish pan with the turkey in it for roasting.
- You may want to add a little more of the seasoning rub in the places where it may have rinsed off when the apple cider was poured into the pan.
- Then place the turkey on the lower rack in the oven, uncovered.
- Oven-roast the turkey at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 30 minutes in the apple cider brine.
- Baste the turkey with the brine every 20-30 minutes during the roasting.
- When the cooking time is finished, remove the turkey from the oven.
- Baste the bird again with the pan juices brine.
- Let the turkey sit for 20-30 minutes before carving.
- Garnish this Southern Christmas turkey recipe with fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, and parsley, and apple and orange slices.
- Serve Christmas turkey with giblet gravy or turkey broth on top, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
You can make baked apple slices with the leftover apples from the apple cider brine. Add melted butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
Nutrition
Calories: 595kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 71g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 232mg | Sodium: 380mg | Potassium: 1032mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 658IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 177mg | Iron: 6mg
Save it so you can make it!Pin this recipe to remember it later.